An entry of just 6 players competed in what is believed to be the first national Tori-Shogi championships held anywhere in the world! The 1st British Open Tori-Shogi Championships were staged at the Coombes Community Centre in Royston, Herts, on September 7th 1991 as a 5-round Swiss-McMahon tournament. Another first happened in the 4th round of the tournament, when David Murphy gave a Falcon handicap to Phil Holland (and won!), which made it the first recorded handicapped tournament Tori-Shogi game. David Murphy, from Orpington, went on to record 4 wins and an unfinished game and won the official title of British Open Tori-Shogi Champion, to add to his British and European Shogi titles, with Anthony Denver-Fedder, from Ashford, in 2nd place with 4 wins.
At the same time as the Tori-Shogi Championships were being played, a parallel 3-round Shogi competition was run, attracting 10 players, from 11-kyu to 3-dan. Yet another first occurred in this competition when a tournament Shogi game between Les Blackstock and Kevin Wicker was played outside on a BMX track! The new Royston Champion was Stephen Lamb, 3-dan from Faversham, who won all 3 games, with Paul Judkins, 11-kyu of Royston, in 2nd place, also with 3 wins. Paul Judkins was provisionally promoted from 11-kyu to 8-kyu.
My thanks go to Hitachi Data Systems for supplying the prizes, to the Royston Chess Club for the loan of their chess clocks, and to everyone who brought Shogi and Tori sets and chess clocks to Royston. I would also like to thank the members of the Royston Shogi Club for all the help they gave me on the day, particularly entertaining the newcomers to Shogi visiting from Stafford and Whitstable. Let's hope they come again next year to compete! The next Royston Shogi Congress will be on Saturday September 5th 1992. Both champions have been invited back to Royston in 1992 to defend their titles then.
Phil Holland, Vice-President of the British Shogi Federation.
| 1991 British Tori-Shogi Championships |
| 1st - David Murphy - 4.5 wins - promoted to 11-kyu |
| 2nd - Anthony Denver-Fedder - 4 wins - promoted to 13-kyu |
| also promoted - Richard West, to 13-kyu, and Mark Laxton, to 14-kyu |
| 1991 Royston Shogi Tournament |
| 1st - Stephen Lamb - 3 wins |
| 2nd - Paul Judkins - 3 wins - provisionally promoted to 8-kyu |
| Round 1: | |||
| Francis Roads | vs | David Murphy | 0-1 |
| Anthony Denver-Fedder | vs | Richard West | 1-0 |
| Mark Laxton | vs | Phil Holland | 1-0 |
| Round 2: | |||
| Anthony Denver-Fedder | vs | David Murphy | 0-1 |
| Phil Holland | vs | Francis Roads | 0-1 |
| Mark Laxton | vs | Richard West | 0-1 |
| Round 3: | |||
| Richard West | vs | David Murphy | 0-1 |
| Mark Laxton | vs | Francis Roads | 1-0 |
| Phil Holland | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder | 0-1 |
| Round 4: | |||
| Phil Holland | vs | David Murphy (Falcon) | 0-1 |
| Richard West | vs | Francis Roads | 1-0 |
| Mark Laxton | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder | 0-1 |
| Round 5: | |||
| Mark Laxton | vs | David Murphy (Quail) | 0.5-0.5 |
| Phil Holland | vs | Richard West (Quail) | 0-1 |
| Francis Roads | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder | 0-1 |
| Pos. | Player's name (Club) | Grade | Pl. | W. |
| 1. | David Murphy (Orpington) | 13-kyu | 5 | 4.5 |
| 2. | Anthony Denver-Fedder (Ashford) | 15-kyu | 5 | 4 |
| 3. | Richard West (Royston) | 14-kyu | 5 | 3 |
| 4. | Mark Laxton (Faversham) | 15-kyu | 5 | 2.5 |
| 5. | Francis Roads (London) | 13-kyu | 5 | 1 |
| 6. | Phil Holland (Royston) | 15-kyu | 5 | 0 |
| Round 1: | |||
| Stephen Lamb | vs | Les Blackstock | 1-0 |
| Graham Denver-Fedder | vs | Kevin Wicker | 0-1 |
| Vince West | vs | Mike Coyne | 1-0 |
| Arron Springate | vs | Mike Brewer | 1-0 |
| Paul Judkins | vs | Doug McGown (Rook) | 1-0 |
| Round 2: | |||
| Vince West | vs | Stephen Lamb | 0-1 |
| Kevin Wicker | vs | Les Blackstock | 1-0 |
| Arron Springate | vs | Graham Denver-Fedder | 1-0 |
| Doug McGown | vs | Mike Coyne (Rook+Lance) | 0-1 |
| Paul Judkins | vs | Mike Brewer (4 pieces) | 1-0 |
| Round 3: | |||
| Kevin Wicker | vs | Stephen Lamb | 0-1 |
| Mike Coyne | vs | Les Blackstock | 0-1 |
| Vince West | vs | Graham Denver-Fedder | 0-1 |
| Paul Judkins | vs | Arron Springate (4 pieces) | 1-0 |
| Doug McGown | vs | Mike Brewer (Rook+Lance) | 1-0 |
| Pos. | Player's name (Club) | Grade | Pl. | W. |
| 1. | Stephen Lamb (Faversham) | 3-dan | 3 | 3 |
| 2. | Paul Judkins (Royston) | 11-kyu | 3 | 3 |
| 3. | Kevin Wicker (London) | 2-dan | 3 | 2 |
| 4. | Graham Denver-Fedder (Ashford) | 1-dan | 3 | 2 |
| 5. | Vince West (Reading) | 1-kyu | 3 | 1 |
| 6. | Doug McGown (Shepperton) | 7-kyu | 3 | 1 |
| 7. | Arron Springate (Gillingham) | 2-kyu | 3 | 1 |
| 8. | Mike Coyne (Gillingham) | 1-kyu | 3 | 1 |
| 9. | Les Blackstock (London) | 3-dan | 3 | 1 |
| 10. | Mike Brewer (London) | 2-kyu | 3 | 0 |
Email: Phil Holland <phil.holland@bcs.org.uk>
